Hey guys, I know it's been forever and I'm sorry but here your go. I don't have much say so yea. Also thanks for the support, I really appreciate it! Chapter title credits go to Coldplay. (Hymn for the Weekend) Everything else belongs to Rick Riordan.

When I was a river dried up

(You came to rain a flood)

The music was loud. So loud, that it was getting past the "minor annoyance" level. It crawled through his ears and pounded at his head. Plus there were people everywhere. They were shimmying and shaking their bodies, constantly bumping into him.

Nico had to get out of here but, unfortunately, he had promised Jason he wouldn't sneak off tonight. Nico cursed the son of Jupiter and his manipulating strategies. The blond himself, stood dancing in the middle of the crowd, his glasses discarded, and blue eyes slightly dulled out.

Nico shivered. That was another thing: the alcohol. The Stolls (who else?) had snuck some in for the older demigods to enjoy. And enjoying, they were.

He could hear the tipsy ones giggling from miles away, and the full out drunk ones stumbling over each other, or climbing on cabins or any other reckless activity. Nico sighed, maybe he would just slink back to his cabin, not like anyone would notice his absence.

He made his way towards the second field of cabins, the recently added ones. Or as recent as two years could be.

Nico scoffed out loud, Jason was only 18, yet there he was all wound up in liquor.

He briefly wondered whether the rest of the seven were drunk too. He had thought them too responsible to be so, but obviously, just looking at Jason, he was wrong.

Nico pushed the thoughts out of his mind, and continued towards his cabin. The monstrous decor on it made him want to gag, but anywhere was better than the current party.

It was a party to celebrate the two-year anniversary of defeating Gaea, plus a sort of three-year-and-one-month anniversary of defeating Kronos. Although, in Nico's opinion, it seemed to just be an excuse to let loose.

Right as he approached his cabin, Nico saw a shadow flicker behind it. Immediately, his sword was summoned and his battle instincts on. He cautiously walked forward, thinking it could just be a drunk demigod or a harpy. As he got closer, he was met with the sight of bright green eyes. He wasn't sure why, but Nico's first thought was Rachel, their oracle. Something about the eyes gave him chills in a way only a prophecy could.

Then he remembered who else had green eyes like those.

"Percy?" Nico asked in surprise.

The boy in question didn't react to Nico's question. In fact, Percy didn't seem to be reacting to anything at all. His eyes were staring blankly into space, and his lips looked like they were repeating a mantra, but no sound was coming out.

"Percy?" Nico asked again, this time more tentatively, "Are- are you drunk, Percy?"

That seemed to get his attention. His eyes shot up to Nico, and his mouthing stopped.

"I- I- please don- don't hurt me. I'm so- sorry. Just please don't. No- no more ple-" Percy begged Nico.

Nico's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Percy I'm not going to hurt you, just relax. It's me, Nico." What was happening, was Percy drunk, or was he having a… panic attack? Yeah, that seemed likely; Nico didn't realize the son of the Poseidon still got them, but he wasn't one to judge. Nico had woken up multiple nights, in the last few months, plagued with old and surfacing memories.

Percy's eyes squeezed themselves shut and he took a long, shuddering breath. Nico didn't smell any alcohol, so the possibility that Percy was drunk was definitely eliminated. But if Percy was having a panic attack, Nico wasn't sure what he could do. He wasn't equipped with these kinds of things, especially not with Percy.

Nico took a breath and gazed back at Percy. He had taken to simply staring at a space next to Nico, not really looking at anything.

"Percy?" Nico tried, tentatively, "Do you want- do you want to go back to your cabin?" Percy didn't do much to show he heard, but Nico thinks he saw a little jerk of his head, and that was a 'yes' in his mind.

Slowly, the boys trekked to the Poseidon Cabin, Percy muttering to himself the whole time. Nico really wasn't sure what they would do once in there. Annabeth wasn't here to help, and he wasn't sure if there was someone else in camp who helped Percy with these things. Nico wasn't even sure what triggered his breakdown, and what was it about? Tartarus? One of the wars? Something else? Who really knew, everyone had so much traumatic crap that it was getting hard to keep track of.

Gods, they were really screwed up.

They arrived at the light blue door of the Poseidon Cabin, and Nico pushed open the door slowly, praying that the god of the seas wouldn't mind him inside, considering he was trying to help the god's son. Nico sat Percy down on the bunk that was presumably his, and stared down at him.

Percy was still mumbling and staring off into nothing, at this point Nico wasn't sure what to even do about it. He was at least 43% sure that the boy had actually gone insane. He had finally just snapped, years of saving the world had slowly torn him down, piece by piece, and now he was broken.

But, even with all the evidence provided, Nico was fairly sure, or at least somewhat sure that Percy wouldn't break that easily. Still, Nico glanced at the slowly deteriorating boy with a small frown. He needed help, that was for sure, but maybe Nico wasn't the one who could help him.

Nico decided to leave Percy in his cabin, sure that he wasn't going anywhere. Nico made his way through the 'U' of cabins until he stopped in front of one that was pink, and decorated with lace and flowers. He and Piper had begun to get closer over that past few months. It had a little to do with his relationship with Jason, and a lot to do with an incident involving cats, pineapples, and a lot of toy frogs (long story, don't ask).

After that, Nico had bonded a lot with Piper, and they soon became pretty good friends. He hadn't seen the daughter of Aphrodite at the party, and he was fairly certain that she was present at camp, so he determined her cabin to be where she might be.

He knocked on the door twice, and didn't have to wait more than six seconds for a response. The door was flung open and his eyes were met with colorful, kaleidoscope ones, soft brown hair entwined with feathers, and a dark face littered with the occasional freckle.

Don't get him wrong; Nico was 100% gay, nothing else, but he didn't have to be straight to see that Piper was really beautiful. It was sort of inevitable with her heritage.

"Nico?" Piper's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "what are you doing here?"

"I need your help."

Piper raised an eyebrow at him, "With what exactly?"

"Percy." was all he said, then he turned and marched towards the Poseidon Cabin. He turned to see Piper jogging to catch up to him, still questioning him with her eyes.

"What do you mean Percy? Is he hurt, is something wrong?" Piper asked. Nico just stayed silent, it would be easier to just show her. When she didn't get an answer, Piper sighed and continued walking.

Once they reached the Poseidon Cabin, Nico paused before opening the door. He turned to Piper,

"He- he just started panicking."

"What?" Piper asked confused, "Percy?"

Nico nodded, "I found him by my cabin, all shaken up so I took him in here to calm down, but… I don't know what's wrong. He's just not… okay. That's all I know."

Piper nodded and pushed open the door, when she stepped inside Nico heard her gasp.

"What?" He questioned as he followed her in, but he was greeted with silence and an empty cabin.

"I thought you said he was in here?" Piper pressed, staring at Nico.

"I did, he- he was. I left him here when I went to get you, I didn't think he would leave." Nico defended.

"Maybe he's fine now. I mean Percy is capable of taking care of himself right? So maybe he just went for a walk or something. Maybe to the party." Piper reasoned.

Nico shook his head, "No, you didn't see him, he was- he was not in the right mind. He was muttering things and looking at nothing. And at one point he- he begged me not to… not to hurt him. He was scared Piper, really scared."

Piper furrowed her eyebrows, "Then I have a few ideas where he might have gone."

They had checked the Athena Cabin, and the Arena, only to be disappointed when there was no son of Poseidon in sight. Even though Annabeth wasn't at camp right now, Piper reasoned that Percy might still be there because of the familiarity. Nico wasn't so sure, but they had checked nevertheless. The next stop would be the beach, and then the lake, and lastly the woods.

The problem with them checking the beach and lake was that if Percy had chosen to go under the water, there was no way either Nico or Piper would be able to find him.

As they walked along the sand, looking for any clues as to where Percy went, Nico questioned why Piper wasn't at the party.

"Same reason as yours, I could assume," She replied, "Too loud, to many people, not my kind of party. Not my way to spend my time." Nico nodded, agreeing.

"But Jason seems to be having fun." Nico added.

Piper made a face, "Jason's been… stressed recently, he wasn't sure about going to the party tonight, but I told him it would help him relax." She shrugged. "Guess I was right."

They kept walking down the beach until Nico saw something that caught his eye.

"Is- is someone sitting over there?" Nico pointed in front of them towards the water. He can sort of make out a figure sitting half submerged in the water.

Piper squinted her eyes, then gasped, "Yea, I think that's Percy. Nice find." She took off towards the boy in question, with Nico hot on her heels. When they reached the area that Percy was in, Piper called out his name.

He didn't answer. Piper narrowed her eyes. "We might have to go in." she concluded. Nico scowled at the water. Nope, there was no way he was going in there. Not even for Percy.

Piper sighed at his reaction, and began to take off her shoes. "Fine, I'll do it."

"It was your idea." Nico mumbled quietly, but considering the glare he got in return, he guessed she heard it.

Piper waded into the greenish water, making her way towards Percy. They were lucky that the tide was low today, and that the wind wasn't too powerful. Nico was sure it made it easier for Piper to walk through the waves.

Nico couldn't make out the words that she was saying, as she approached Percy. He could only tell that she was speaking, but eventually, once she had reached the seated demigod, she was able to him up and the duo started trudging back towards the shore.

Well, Piper was trudging, for Percy it seemed like the water would part for him, and he would glide through effortlessly. Perks of being a son of Poseidon, Nico supposed.

When Piper, and Percy got back to where Nico was standing, Nico saw that not only was Piper wet, but so was Percy. He knew that Percy was capable of drying himself with just a single thought, so either he was too tired, or just didn't care enough. Or he didn't even realize he was wet.

Nico swallowed, "Percy? Percy, can you hear me?" He tried. No response. At least, Nico thought, the muttering went away.

As soon as the thought crossed Nico's mind, Percy started shivering, and his breathing was coming out in gasps.

"We should get him back to his cabin." Piper spoke up. Nico nodded, and with Percy in between them, they made their way to the Poseidon Cabin.

Once there, they sat Percy down on his bed (again), and stared at him, while he stared at them.

"What should we do?" Nico found himself whispering, though he wasn't sure why.

Piper shrugged, then suddenly left to the bathroom. Nico rolled his eyes at her. What was she doing?

She returned five minutes later with a bucket of water. Nico stuck his hand in it and hissed. It was freezing cold. When Piper placed it down and helped Percy sit on the floor, Nico's eye opened in realization.

"Piper, please don't tell me you're going to pour that on him." Nico pleaded.

Piper shrugged, (why does she do that so much), "it might, you know, wake him up." Before Nico could protest, she lifted the bucket and dumped it like it was nothing on the unsuspecting demigod.

Nico closed his eyes and waited for the reaction. For the scream of outrage, or at the very least a toilet exploding.

Nothing came. Nothing.

Nico opened his eyes, and saw Percy in the very same position. Except now he was shivering ten times more.

"Piper!" Nico yelped, "He was already cold, now he's freezing."

Piper bit her lip and looked down. "I didn't think of that."

Nico sighed, "Okay, well he still didn't do anything, maybe we should ask-"

"Guys? Nico? Piper?" A voice interrupted Nico.

"Percy!" Piper and Nico shouted at the same time.

"Uhh, present?" Percy replied. Nico exchanged a look with Piper, then glanced curiously at Percy.

"Percy. Do you- do you not remember anything that happened tonight?" Nico asked in disbelief.

Percy narrowed his eyes, "um. No. But does it have anything to do with why I'm soaked. And cold, I'm also very cold." His eyes found the bucket, "did you guys dump freezing water on me?"

Nico just stared at Percy, as he got up and shook his head like a dog, to get the water out. Percy squeezed his eyes shut, and Nico watched as the water evaporated into the air as if it was never there.

He glanced at Piper, and snapped his fingers making her wet leggings dry instantly.

Piper cleared her throat, "Thanks, Percy, but do you really not remember anything?"

Percy just looked confused, "No, I really don't know what you-" All of a sudden, his eyes widened and his breathing shallowed, "-oh. Oh. Oh gods. Oh man I- I-" He looked at Nico, then at Piper. "I'm sorry, I- I just-" He gasped.

Piper rushed to his side, "Hey, Percy, just breathe. Relax. It's okay, you're okay. Just breathe." Nico saw Percy's shoulder's loosen, he fell onto his bed breathing in and out as Piper instructed.

Nico felt himself calming down too, this night had been stressful, and he felt that tension leave his body as he listened to Piper's soft, soothing voice.

It took Nico an embarrassing amount of time to realize that she was using charmspeak. Once Nico snapped out of it, he saw that Percy was a lot better and looked like he now did remember everything.

"Percy," Piper spoke gently, voice now free of magic, "could you tell us what happened."

Percy swallowed, "I had a panic at-ttack."

"About what?" Nico asked.

"About- about my step-dad."

"Paul?" Piper asked. They had all met Paul after Estelle was born, Nico couldn't figure out why Paul would cause a panic attack. He was harmless.

But then Percy shook his head, "No, my ex-step-dad. I just-," Percy sighed, "it's a long story."

Nico took a seat, "we got time."

Piper shot him a warning look, but didn't protest. Percy took out Riptide, his sword, and started spinning the pen around. He looked down, and sighed again.

It was a few moments before he spoke again, "It was the alcohol. It was what caused my panic attack. My first step-dad's name was Gabe. My mom married him because he stunk. Literally. She knew that his stench would cover mine, and protect me from any monsters. She didn't have any way to protect us from him though. Long story short, Gabe was a jerk who drank a lot, smoked a lot, and gambled a lot. Living with him was hell. He- he hit us. Me and my mom. And it- it sucked to say the least."

Nico inhaled sharply, maybe he shouldn't have pushed Percy to tell them all that.

Piper was the one to break the silence, "Gods, Percy. We- we had no idea. I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"It's in the past, I should be over it by now. It's been seven years. But he- he just did a lot. It kind of stuck with me, you know?"

Nico nodded. He did know.

"Well it's nothing to be ashamed about Perce," Piper reassured, "We've all got our… demons."

Percy gave a wry smile, "Thanks guys, both of you. I- I never had a panic quite that bad, especially not when Annabeth isn't around."

"It's no problem Percy, it's what friends are for."

"Yeah," Nico agreed, "You would have done the same for us, I'm sure."

Percy smiled, then suddenly got up.

"What is it?" Nico asked.

"I just realized," Percy smirked slyly, "I never got you back for soaking me."

Nico's eyes widened as Percy's hands went up, summoning water from the fountain in the room.

"Woah, wait. It wasn't me! It was Piper! Percy, wait, it wasn't me! I swear-" Nico was cut off as cold, frigid water hit his face, and soaked him to the bone.

Piper was full out laughing, and Percy just stood there smirking.

Then right at that moment the cabin door opened, revealing Annabeth, who must have just gotten to camp, evidently shown with the duffle bag she was carrying.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain. I just got here. Why didn't you tell me the party was toda-?" Annabeth saw the mess in the cabin, including Piper laughing, and Nico soaked.

"Do I even want to know?" She asked jokingly, then turned to Nico, "You know you got a little something on your face, Death Breath.

Nico just glared at her, while Percy and Piper just laughed harder.

There you have it. Chapter 9. I finally finished after many weeks of procrastination. I had a lot of spare time with all this corona virus stuff canceling school. Although there is online work so yea. Welp don't be too mad or anything. byeeeeeeeee.